Digester filling chute



Dec. 14, 1954 N. H. SANDBERG 2,696,904

DIGESTER FILLING CHUTE Filed Nov. 18, 1950 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

fi e/s H. Sandbar WW-Elan ATTURN Dec. 14, 1954 v N. H. SANDBERG2,696,904

DIGESTER FILLING cntm:

Fild NOV. 18, 1950 .3 Shets-Sheet 3 INVENTORQ Ale ls .h'. 5cm dberyATTORNEY DIGESTER FILLING CHUTE Nels H. Sandberg, Minneapolis, Minn.,assignor to Waldorf. Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn., acorporation of Minnesota Application November 18, 1950, Serial No.196,477

4 Claims. (Cl. 19852) My invention relates to an improvement in digesterfilling chute wherein it is desired to provlde a simple and effectivemeans of filling rotary digesters and the like.

In the manufacture of paper pulp, the pulp forming material is oftenplaced in a rotary digester where it is cooked for a predeterminedperiod of time. Difliculty is experienced in completely filling thesedigesters. Wood chips when poured into the digester have a tendency tobuild up in conical form, leaving void spaces near the top of thedigester. It is usually necessary for a workman to enter the digesterand shovel the chips laterally in orderto completely fill the digester.In some 1nstances it has been found necessary to close the digesteropening, rotate the digester for a period of time to scatter the chips,and then to open the digester in order to fill the remaining space withchips. Such procedures are costly and time consuming.

The present device comprises a chute for guiding wood chips and the likefrom a lateral conveyor to the digester. opening. This chute acts as amovable conduit connecting the source of material supply and thedigester opening. The chute is provided with a rotatable paddle wheel atits lower extremity which acts to scatter the chips in all directionsfrom the lower end of the chute. As a result the digester may be quicklyfilled without the necessity of entering the digester and manuallymoving the rlnaterial or rotating the digester to scatter the materia Afeature of the present invention lies in the provision of a chute whichattaches beneath an opening in a conveyor and in providing a door inthis, opening which is movable into and out of closed position. Thechute is first attached in place leading into the digester opening andthe door is moved so as to allow the chips or other material to enterthe chute.

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of achute having a movable deflector therein which acts to deflect the chipsonto the scattering device by means of which they are spread in acircular path. This deflector is movable so as to deflect the chipstoward any side of the chute and acts to prevent clogging of the chutewith the material.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be moreclearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification:

Figure l is a diagrammatic view partially in section showing the chutein use in a digester.

Figure 2 is an elevation view of the digester.

Figure 3 is an elevation view of the upper portion of the chute showingthe manner in which it is attached to a conveyorjor the like.

Figure 4 is a sectional view through the lower portion of the chuteshowing the rotatable deflector blade and the bafile.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the bafile removed from the chute.

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing the deflector, the position of thesection being indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 4 Figure 7 is anelevation view of the upper portion of the chute.

The chute is designed for use in conjunction with a rotary digesterillustrated in general by the letter A. The digester A is shown as beingspherical in shape and having an opening 10 by means of which the bodymay be filled and emptied. This opening 10 is normally I 2,696,904Patented Dec. 14, 1954 ICE closed by a pressure door when the device isin operation. Usually steam gauges, steam pipes, and other fittings areconnected to the digester, these elements not being illustrated in thedrawings, as they are well known in the art. I

A pair of trunnions 11 extend axially from the digester body androtatably support the body. These trunnions 11 are supported in bearingssuch as 12 supported by suitable standards or framework illustrated ingeneral by the numeral 13. The digester body is usually rotated bymeansof a gear or worm wheel 14 rotated by a cooperable worm or gear 15.'

The digesters A are often mounted beneath a floor or platform 16provided with apertures such as 17 which I may align with the digesteropening when this opening is in one rotative position. The digester isordinarily filled through the opening 17 by any suitable means.

The chute for use in filling, the digester is indicated in general bythe numeral B. The chute Bis usually employed to deliver wood chips orsimilar pulp forming material from a horizontal-conveyor C. The conveyorC may be of any suitable type such as a screw type of conveyor rotatablein a trough-shaped body 19. The

conveyor body 19 is provided with a downwardly directed sleeve or elbow20 which is normally closed by a closure plate 21. One such sleeve 20 isprovided for each digester of the series. The door 21 is ordinarilyprovided with a rack 22 on its undersurface, this rack being engageablewith a pinion 23. The pinion 23 is 6 supported upon a transverse shaft24 providedwith a hand wheel 25 by means of which the shaft may berotated. The plate 21 is supported in opposed channel brackets 26, whichextend downwardly to provide bearings for the shaft 24. The channelbrackets 26 are formed of two opposed angle iron members connectedmarginally by a spacing flange slightly deeper than the thickness of theclosure plate 21.

As illustrated in Figure 7 of the drawings, a pair of angle brackets 27are provided with laterally extending flanges 29 resting over andsecured to one of the brackets 26. These brackets 27 are also providedwith laterally extending flanges 30 at the lower extremities.

A bar 31 is supported by the flanges 30 and extends longitudinally ofthe conveyor. This bar 31 forms a clamping bar for use in attaching thechute in proper location beneath a conveyor opening.

The chute is provided with a funnelshaped top 32 i of proper dimensionsto receive the chips or other material dropping from the conveyor C whenthe corresponding door 21 is opened. The funnel shaped chute top 32 I isprovided with a pair of spaced angle brackets 33 which connect the chutewith a channel 34. The channel 34 is supported with its base on asubstantially vertical plane and its opposed sides on parallelsubstantially horizontal planes. A pair of clamping screws 35 extendthrough the lower flange of the channel 34 and are designed to clampagainst the clamping bar 31 on the conveyor.

When the chute is in place the channel 34 embraces a portion of the bar31 and is held in this position by the clamping screws 35. By looseningthese screws 35, the chute may be disconnected from the bar 31.

The chute B includes a tubular inclined body portion 36 which isconnected at its upper end to the lower end of the funnel shaped top 32.The lower end of the tubular section 36 leads into the vertical tubularsection 37. Thus the material to enter the digester A drops into thefunnel shaped top 32, drops through the inclined chute section 36 andalso through the vertical chute section 37.

A generally rectangular frame 39 is connected to the chute section 36 bytransverse braces 40. This frame 39 supports an electric motor 41 havinga pulley 42 upon its motor shaft 43. The frame 39 also supports avertically extending shaft 44 by the use of spaced bearings 45. A pulley46 on the shaft 44 is connected by a belt 47 to the pulley 42. Thus uponrotation of the motor 41, the shaft 44v is similarly rotated.

The shaft44 is supported substantially axially of the tubular section 37of the chute. A disc 49 is provided with a hub 50 mounted upon the lowerextremity of the shaft 44 beneath the lower end of the chute section 37.A series of angularly spaced angle members 51 are supported upon theupper surface of the disc 49 as indicated in Figure 6. These angles 51act as blades to throw chips and similar material outwardly.

The frame 39 also supports a pair of bearings 52 which support atransverse shaft 53. The shaft 53 is mounted in sleeves 54 at the lowerextremity of an inverted U-shaped yoke 55. The yoke 55 straddles aportion of the apparatus and acts to support the same. The upperextremity of the yoke 55 is connected by an adjustable turn buckle 56 toa hook 57 supported by a trolley 59 mounted upon a rail 60. Thus thefilling device may be moved from one position to another along the rail60. Furthermore, the device may be pivoted about the axis of the shaft53 so as to raise the lower extremity of the chute out of the apertureinthe digester for use of the aperture 17 in the floor or platform 16.

A baffle 61 is supported by a clamp 62 to the upper extremity of thetubular chute section 37. This baffle 61 includes an anchoring end 63designed to extend along the wall of the tubular section 37 and aninclined end 64 which inclines toward the opposite wall of the chutesection from that to which the baflle is anchored. The deflector end 64is bifurcated by a slot 65 forming two separate baflie portions 66 and67 designed to extend on opposite sides of the shaft 44. Preferably oneend 66 of the battle is bent along a transverse line as indicated at 69to extend downwardly axially of the tubular member while the other endinclines across the chute section.

When it is desired to fill a digester A, the opening 10 of the digesteris uncovered and the chute B is moved into position above the digester.The lower chute section and the deflector plate 49 "are inserted throughthe open ings 17 and 10 to terminate within the digester. Simultaneouslythe channel 34 at the upper end of the chute is positioned to engage theclamping bar 31 and to be held in place thereupon by clamping screws 35.

When the chute is properly located, the motor 41 is turned on so thatthe deflector 49 will rotate. The hand wheel is next operated to rollback the door 21 from its closed position. The chips or other materialswhich are conveyed along the conveyor 19 will now fall through the dooropening of the elbow or sleeve 20, will drop into the upper end of thechute down through the chute sections 36 and 37 and onto the deflector49. This deflector throws the material outwardly in a generally circularpattern insuring the proper filling of the digester.

It will be seen that with such an arrangement much time and eifort maybe saved. In any event where a conveyor is used to convey the pulpforming material, some 4 type of chute must be provided to guide thechips into the digester. By use of this filling chute the necessity ofentering the digester to manually spread the chips is avoided.Furthermore, the task of closing the digester, rotating the same tospread the chips and reopening the digester is obviated. As a result theoperation may be completed in a fraction of the time previouslyrequired.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my digester filling chute, and while Ihave endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire tohave it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope ofthe following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A filling chute for use in distributing material in cluding asubstantially vertical chute section, an inclined chute sectionconnected to the upper end of said vertical chute section, arotarydeflector positioned beneath said vertical chute section, adeflector shaft extending through said vertical chute section, and abaffle supported within said vertical chute section and supoprted at adownwardly inclined angle, said baffle filling substantially onehalf ofthe cross sectional area of the vertically extending chute section.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and including a bl lilll'cfiid endon said baflle straddling said deflector s t.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 and in which the bafile includes avertically extending support, and including a means for supporting saidsupport in adjustably fixed relation to said vertical chute section.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 and in which the bafiie is providedwith a bifurcated end straddling said deflector shaft, and in which oneside of said bifurcated end is bent out of the inclined plane of thebaflle to elxtt'nd substantially in a plane through the axis of the s at.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 204,308 Fascher et a1 May 28, 1878 228,048 Fascher May .25,1880 1,157,935 Gray Oct. 26, 1915 2,497,406 Graham Feb. 14, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 570,866 France Ian. 23, 1924

